PHSC Student Among Good Samaritans Who Helped Man in Distress at Pasco DMV

Three medical professionals may have saved the life of a man who collapsed at the Gulf Harbors DMV office in New Port Richey Tuesday.

67-year-old man was not breathing

Ashley Gonyou, 19, stepped forward to help

Man remains hospitalized as of 12/27

Ashley Gonyou, 19, who’s planning to take her boards to become a certified nursing assistant, stepped forward to help, along with nurse Angela Brennan and medical technician Claudia Cortes.

“I was really nervous. I was like, ‘Oh, I gotta do something,’” said Ashley Gonyou, 19. “I was like, ‘This is what I went to school for.’”

According to Gonyou, the 67-year-old wasn’t breathing and the women couldn’t find a pulse. She says he finally opened his eyes after they used the office’s AED.

“In school, it’s not the same as on real people. We play with dolls and not actual people that have heartbeats and we could actually hurt someone,” said Gonyou, who attended Pasco-Hernando State College.

Gonyou notes they weren’t the only ones who tried to help the man.

“We had two people calling the ambulance,” she said. “We had the DMV people helping out as much as possible. We had one guy holding his head up for us, and we had one lady getting everything prepped and that, for when they came in.”